Seeing Through the Future and Before the War

Thus, Hu Feng's divine sense pierced through endless time and space, countless timelines surging toward him like waves.

The consciousness connected to the Titan Core accepted it all, the infinite possibilities of the World of Azeroth now laid before his eyes.

Hu Feng saw an Azeroth without his existence, unfolding like a film reel before him—he witnessed the originally destined history: Merith*Winterwind, Lady Alleria, the Windrunner Sisters, the rise and fall of the Night Elves, the rise and fall of humanity, Sargeras and his Burning Legion, the War of the Ancients, Suramar, Stormwind City, orcs, dwarves, Karazhan, and the Chromatic Dragons.

All things in the world—those already destroyed, those existing, those about to be born, and those yet to be born—their respective fates were all imprinted in his memory.

But Hu Feng could not find his own timeline. This newborn Titan of his seemed beyond fate's grasp; everything he did, everyone connected to him, had all become a brand-new, unspyable timeline.

Meanwhile, those untouched and unintersected by him continued to unfold as destined.

In that moment, Hu Feng understood much and felt much lighter. If he were to vanish during the War of the Ancients, influencing no one further, this world would still continue to develop according to its destined history.

But what he had changed, destroyed, or saved would all fall into a new timeline, eventually intersecting to form a timeline belonging solely to Hu Feng.

Perhaps in Hu Feng's new timeline, certain famous figures from the original destined history might be born earlier, later, or never appear at all. Still, Hu Feng wasn't overly worried—having the original timeline as a reference gave him a great deal of initiative.

Lady Alleria and Merith, meanwhile, were nearly frantic. Hu Feng flickered like a deity, yet as if he didn't exist in this world at all—now dim, now bright, now transparent, now solid. Yellow drifting sand had appeared around him from nowhere, whirling wildly, while the ground nearby warped bizarrely—sprouting a clump of weeds one moment, then withering and rotting the next.

Hu Feng's expression shifted—laughing one moment, agonized the next, then furious. Finally, just as Alleria was about to cry from anxiety and go summon the others, his strange state ceased. With a muffled grunt, he dropped to his knees, panting heavily. Merith dashed over in a single stride, carefully supporting his honored teacher. "Teacher? Teacher? What's wrong? What happened?"

Gasping for breath, Hu Feng waved a hand at Merith. "I'm fine... Merith*Winterwind, listen."

Though Merith had no idea why Hu Feng suddenly needed to speak to him, and even used his full name, he quickly nodded. "Teacher, speak."

"I permit you to continue studying arcane energy and necromancy. But Merith*Winterwind, you must swear to me: no matter how long passes, you will never fall because of it, will always hold fast to your convictions, and will always... protect what you wish to protect."

Hu Feng gazed at Merith with a seriousness never seen before. Merith paused, recalling his teacher's earlier strange state, and suddenly seemed to understand something.

"I, Merith*Winterwind, swear to you, the Divine Emissary of the God of Magic, my respected teacher Lord Hu Feng: no matter how long passes, I will never fall because of it, will always hold fast to my convictions, and will always protect what I wish to protect! If I break this oath, let the gods witness—I shall fall into the abyss forever, suffering eternally!" Merith released Hu Feng, stood up, and nearly shouted the words. A pillar of energy shot down from the sky, and a purple Eye of Truth appeared on the back of Merith's hand, gleaming—the oath was sealed.

Alleria, tears streaming, helped Hu Feng to his feet. "You madman! What exactly are you trying to do?! Do you enjoy tormenting the feelings of those who worry about you?!"

Hu Feng smiled at Alleria. "And you, Allie—now I'm even more certain I was right. Compared to your destined one, I think I'm the better fit." With that, he shook off her support, stood on his own, and snapped his fingers, teleporting himself back to his personal mage tower atop Suramar City.

Alleria wanted to follow and press him, but Merith stopped her. "Lady Alleria, don't ask anymore. This is beyond what you or I are qualified to understand." Seeing Alleria glare fiercely at him, Merith hastily continued, "If I'm not mistaken, as the Divine Emissary, Teacher Hu Feng must have foreseen the future just now. The Titan God showed him the future of each of us, even the fate of this world. This is not something we can pry into. Let it rest."

Alleria thought back to the scene and grew more convinced of Merith's words. Still...

"Hmph, that rogue—calling me Allie! Even if he saw the future, I won't let him off!"

Merith chuckled, then turned toward the Mage Corps' camp. "Speaking of which, I personally think Lady Alleria should pay more attention to what Teacher said—about him being a better fit than your destined partner, hahaha." Halfway there, he stopped and turned back. "Oh, my mistake—I shouldn't call you 'Lady.' Goodbye, Mistress Alleria."

A storm of magical flame arrows rained toward Merith, who yelped and raised an Ice Barrier, then blinked several dozen meters away. "Uh, Mistress, please calm down. Your student takes his leave." With a series of blinks, he vanished from sight.

For the next few days, Hu Feng holed up in his mage tower in Suramar City, unseen, tinkering with something unknown. He only reappeared when the human and elven allied forces were ready to set out.

Alleria stood behind him with a cold face. Those familiar with Hu Feng instinctively kept their distance. Dath'Remar, in particular, stared oddly at Hu Feng and Alleria, pondered deeply, then wore an expression as if he'd uncovered some inside secret, nodding at others with a knowing look. Hu Feng felt like charging over and tearing apart Dath'Remar's handsome middle-aged face.

But worse was yet to come. After the rallying speech, as the army marched out, Hu Feng shoved a strange necklace into Alleria's hands when no one was looking. "Allie, wear this. It'll do you good."

Alleria wanted to refuse with a scowl, but Hu Feng, seeing her reluctance, put it on her without further ado.

"Ohhhh! Lord Divine Emissary, so dashing and unstoppable! I, Dath'Remar*Sunstrider, salute you!" A magically amplified voice boomed across the entire army.

Hu Feng and Alleria stood dumbfounded, mechanically turning to look at Dath'Remar, who was as excited as if his family dog had just whelped a litter. Oblivious, he kept loudly recounting what he'd just witnessed to the troops—until he suddenly turned into a little fat pig, squealing incessantly.

Everyone looked at Hu Feng, whose face was dark with murderous intent. The artifact staff in his hand, "Origin of Divine Power, Azeroth Binder," still pointed at the now-white pig Dath'Remar, glowing with dangerous light.

"Did he say something just now?" Hu Feng asked in a sinister tone.

The crowd panicked, shaking their heads vigorously. "No! No! It was too noisy—we didn't hear a thing!"

Hu Feng nodded in satisfaction, resuming a genial smile. "Merith, bring this cute little white pig along. Let's keep moving."

The army marched on.

A little while later, Hu Feng sidled up to Alleria again. "Ah, I got interrupted and forgot to say something."

Alleria pretended not to hear, turning her head to scrutinize the distant forest as if it hid some dangerous enemy. But then a pair of large hands clamped her face and forced her to look back.

"Hey, listen to me! This necklace is called Destined Fate. When you're hit by an attack that could seriously wound you, there's at least a fifty percent chance it'll help you dodge it. And when you attack, there's a thirty percent chance it'll multiply the power several times, devastating your target. Pretty good, huh?" Hu Feng held Alleria's face, forcing her to look at him.

"Let go!"

"Say it's good first!"

"It is—let go!" she hissed.

Hu Feng released her with satisfaction, tilting his head smugly at the elf lady, who rolled her eyes furiously.

After another moment, Alleria asked sullenly, "Another artifact?"

"Ah, yeah, I guess so."

Alleria said nothing more, continuing to keep watch around Hu Feng.

Finally freed from his transformation, Dath'Remar sidled up, squinting at Alleria's necklace and then at her longbow.

"Lord Divine Emissary, um... my son Anasterian has come of age, but the poor lad only has a pair of epic items—not a single legendary artifact. It's really a disgrace to the God of Magic, don't you think?"

Hu Feng squinted back at Dath'Remar. "What's that got to do with me? Go beg the God of Magic, then. I'm just the Divine Emissary—I can't manage the god's reputation." Seeing Dath'Remar's crestfallen, henpecked expression, and recalling the High Elves' original fate, he relented. "Fine, fine. After we deal with the trolls, bring me the Disintegration Staff. I'll upgrade it for you—consider it a gift for the High Elf Prince." Dath'Remar's face lit up with excitement.

Hu Feng slipped back into the extravagantly luxurious carriage the High Elves had prepared for him, his thoughts already leaving Quel'Thalas.

Originally, on this trip to the Eastern Kingdoms, Hu Feng had planned to find the hidden Deathwing, Neltharion, and bring him to Kalimdor. But after seeing the future, he decided to change his plans.

Sensing Deathwing's location, he found the clever beast hiding deep beneath the Maelstrom at the center of the Endless Sea—the site where the Well of Eternity had exploded during the Sundering of the War of the Ancients, now called Deeprock Isles, a domain of various elemental beings.

The remaining Four Great Dragons were frantically searching for Deathwing and his Black Dragonflight. Revealing him now would not be a wise move.

The journey passed without incident. Finally, after several days, the human and elven army arrived at the Amani Trolls' lair: Zul'Aman.